Will Silver Lake secede from the Eastside?

The debate over what is and is not ‘ the Eastside has landed on the agenda of tonight’s Silver Lake Neighborhood Council meeting. The council’s Governing Board is scheduled to take up a motion that would change its standing rules to state “that Silver Lake is not located in the ‘East Side’ of Los Angeles.”

What’s prompted the motion? Was it the drawing of Silver Lake on the cover of the new “2014 East L.A. Calendar”? Or was it because, after so many million-dollar home sales and $9 cold-press juices, Silver Lake might be more Westside than Eastside? Neither.

Council member Dorit Dowler-Guerrero said the motion – inspired in part by her husband, Al Guerrero, Jr. – is intended to help inform residents about the city’s history. ”He grew up in East L.A, and the reason for the motion was to educate folks that Los Angeles has a historic East Side community that is not Silver Lake,” she said via email. Calling “Silver Lake the East Side robs the original East Side of their name and history.”